on this saturday morning we continue to say our prayers and welcome you to canterbury cathedral from across the world we pray for you wherever you are and join together in a short service of readings and reflections we use first the song which the church has always used at the beginning of its worship throughout the day oh come let us sing to the lord let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation let us come into his presence with thanksgiving and be glad in him with psalms for the lord is a great god and a great king above all gods in his hand are the depths of the earth and the heights of the mountains are his also the sea is his for he made it and his hands have molded the dry land come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the lord our maker for he is our god we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand this weekend we make a change in our thinking from jesus in the wilderness to jesus carrying his cross tomorrow is known as passion sunday but for today we continue to remember jesus in the loneliness of the desert but surrounded by god's creation our canticle is called the benedicti and gives thanks as jesus does so often in his ministry for the aspects of life in our world he points to signs which we may see god's activity in and here is a canticle which he would have known well from the old testament speaking of the glory of creation bless the lord all you works of the lord sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord you heavens sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord sun and moon bless the lord you stars of heaven bless the lord all rain and dew sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord all winds that blow bless the lord you fire and heat bless the lord scorching wind and bitter cold sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord dews and falling snow bless the lord your nights and days bless the lord light and darkness sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord frost and cold bless the lord ice and snow bless the lord lightnings and clouds sing his praise and exalt him forever oh let the earth bless the lord bless the lord you mountains and hills bless the lord all that grows in the ground sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord you springs bless the lord you seas and rivers bless the lord you whales and all that swim in the waters sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord all birds of the air bless the lord you beasts and cattle bless the lord all people on earth sing his praise and exalt him forever o people of god bless the lord bless the lord you priests of the lord bless the lord you servants of the lord sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord all you of upright spirit bless the lord you that are holy and humble in heart bless the father the son and the holy spirit sing his praise and exalt him forever when jesus had finished his time in the desert exploring what his ministry would be he returned to galilee and here are some verses from st luke's gospel jesus returned in the power of the spirit into galilee and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all and he came to nazareth where he had been brought up he went to the synagogue as his custom was on the sabbath day and he stood up to read and there was given to him the book of the prophet isaiah and jesus opened the book and found the place where it was written the spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the lord's favor and he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today in your very hearing this scripture has been fulfilled he was standing amongst those who had known him while he was growing up his own family were there too and he began to explain to them the ministry that he felt he had to fulfill he wasn't greeted with enormous acceptance to start with he found himself in the middle of hostility even amongst his own people but he continued to minister even to the cross to which we shall begin to turn our eyes to maurya as we say our prayers we remember not only those suffering from the effects of the coronavirus or of the loch town but also those who are still suffering from the result of natural disasters we think of the the flooding in the west of england and in wales where families are still looking at homes which were so badly affected and in some cases destroyed we think of all of those and we pray for those in loneliness and those in sorrow pray for members of our own family and ask for grace to be gracious to one another in this difficult time so we pray the prayer from our own cathedral website for today god of all healing who called the light to shine in the darkness at creation and in whose eternal light there is no darkness at all be yourself a light of hope to those who dwell in darkness be a support to the fearful a listener to the lonely a purpose to those in despair that amongst the confusions and struggles of this world they would find the path that leads to the fullness of life and joy and peace in jesus christ our lord amen merciful god you have compassion on all that you have made and your whole creation is enfolded in your love help us to stand firm for your truth to struggle against all adversity and at all times to share your love with our neighbor that we may be instruments of your peace through jesus christ our lord amen so as always when we pray we gather up our prayers in the prayer that our savior taught us in whatever way we would like to say it and in whatever language saying our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen we keep a moment of silence to say any prayers special to ourselves on this day may god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit bless protect and keep you and all whom you love now and forever are men